Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Gu Shenwei almost had to run a race against King Rizhu’s horse.
Everything was ready. Gu Shenwei and King Rizhu were in a heated debate about the race. The crowd stood around them, shouting and adding to the tense atmosphere. People in Norland were always keen to watch entertaining and amusing things. The nobles’ faces turned red with excitement, for they were interested in a human-horse race. If someone dared to stand up and go against the crowd, he was likely to get punched in the face.
King Shengri was more excited than anyone else. He slightly recovered from his drunkenness, and then named himself as the judge without asking anyone else’s permission. He yelled out, “Who is more qualified to be a judge than me? Just stand up.”
King Kuari stood aside and looked at the Dragon King and King Rizhu with a smile on his face. He wanted to know how the Dragon King would handle this.“King Rizhu can easily win this race as long as he proposes to increase the distance. Even a kung fu master with excellent Lightness Skills can only take the lead for a miles or two. Once the distance increases, he will become fatigued and eventually lose,” he mused.
The crowd came up with ideas for betting on the race. They thought Flame Foal was not enough of a payment to the winner of the race. They suggested adding hundreds of thousands of taels of silver to the bet. Some even proposed the two rivals should add their lives and limbs to the bet.
Gu Shenwei made no response, but stared at King Rizhu silently. “I believe that he will drop out of the race soon,’” he thought.
Within about half an hour, King Rizhu’s expression had changed a lot. To begin with, his face turned black with anger, and then red with fury. As the bet increased, his face turned pale with anxiety. By the end, the crowd was in a frenzy. However, he managed to put on a pleasant expression, opened his arms to stop the noise and announced that he was quitting the race.
“It’s my fault. I should not have accused the Dragon King of stealing my horse without any proof. I think it was a coincidence, or maybe the Dragon King was framed,” explained King Rizhu to the crowd.
“That makes sense,” Gu Shenwei responded.
Rude as King Rizhu was, he knew how to concede at critical moments. He knew it was time to retreat by the look the Dragon King gave him.
“This young man was a killer. Although he declared himself as the Dragon King and built an army, he still acts like a killer. Now that he has dared to steal my most precious horse over some small conflict, who knows what else he will do,” pondered King Rizhu.
“Not to mention that if I lose the race, I will be in an embarrassing situation, while the Dragon King will strengthen his reputation. If I win the race, I do not know what he will do to Flame Foal,” King Rizhu thought further.
“I quit the race. No more games. The Dragon King is a distinguished guest of Norland. Dragon King, please forgive my rudeness. Attention, please. Anyone present who helps me find Flame Foal will get ten thousand taels of silvers and ten female slaves from me. Besides—” he continued as he gazed at Dragon King and added, “he will be my friend.”
The nobles were disappointed when they heard this news. But they did not dare embarrass King Rizhu, so they kept unhappily silent . However, King Shengri stood up and shouted, “You quit the race? Are you kidding me? I have already made my bet. No, you cannot quit the race. You must continue the game.”
King Rizhu was upset with King Shengri’s words. When King Kuari noticed the anger on King Rizhu’s face, he thought that he, as the host, should intervene to keep things from becoming any worse. He said, “King Shenri must have had too much to drink. We will have a match soon. The Tournament of the Royal Court will be held in ten days. We can enjoy exciting games every day then.”
“The Tournament of the Royal Court,” King Shengri murmured. He then turned to look at the Dragon King and asked, “Dragon King, will you join it?”
Fang Wenshi had not mentioned it before, so Gu Shenwei did not respond. However, King Kuari replied for him, “Of course the Dragon King will join it. It’s a magnificent event. How could he miss it?”
King Shengri staggered away, intending to leave. After several steps, he turned around and told the Dragon King, “Dragon King, bring your giant roc next time. That roc is more interesting. People in the Golden Roc Fort are fools. They caught two rocs and killed them. How stupid of them!”
The crowd dispersed and started drinking and bragging. King Kuari whispered to the Dragon King, “King Rizhu is fond of horses, while King Shengri is obsessed with birds. Please do not blame them if they have offended you.”
“I think that the two Lords are blunt, but interesting men,” said Gu Shenwei.
“Haha, the Dragon King is an open-minded man,” replied King Kuari.
“As for the Tournament of the Royal Court —” began the Dragon King.
“Well, I made another mistake. I thought that everyone in the world had heard of it. The Tournament of the Royal Court is an annual festival in Norland. It used to be held in autumn, but this year will be different. Once we go to war with the Central Plain, we do not know when the war will end. Therefore, we will hold it in June, ahead of schedule. Its competitions will include kung fu competitions, war games, horse races, dog races, and so on. I am sure that the Dragon King will win the bravery contest this year with your brilliant martial arts skills.”
King Kuari made this “mistake” deliberately. In this way, he openly declared that the Dragon King was his ally before Gu Shenwei could oppose it.
“I’m not good at kung fu competitions. Besides, I’m an outsider. It’s not proper for me to join this tournament,” said Gu Shenwei.
King Kuari looked around, grabbed Gu Shenwei’s arm, and pulled him into a quiet corner. King Kuari whispered to him, “Your Majesty, please do not blame me for making the decision for you. I have my reasons for letting you participate in the bravery contest.”
“What?” asked Gu Shenwei, surprised.
“You’re an honored guest of the Khan, so you were supposed to have been summoned by him. You must know that many people in the Royal Court are hostile towards you. That’s why you have not met the Khan yet,” explained King Kuari.
Gu Shenwei was slightly surprised, for he had foreseen many things, but not this. “I thought I could meet the Khan as expected. What is it? Who can stop the Khan from meeting me?” he mused.
King Kuari noticed the confusion on the Dragon King’s face and continued with a bitter smile, “It’s unbelievable, isn’t it? Everyone thinks that the Khan is regarded as a god in Norland. But even the god can’t do anything he wants. A court needs more than two pillars to support it. As the Khan, he has to balance the powers in Norland or his realm will be in danger. What the Khan cares about is not the speaker’s words but his identity and status.”
King Kuari started to speak in obscure and complex words again. Although Gu Shenwei did not understand his words, he realized that this young lord considered himself as the Khan of Norland. That was why he saw things from a different perspective.
“What could they gain if they managed to stop the Khan from meeting me?” asked Gu Shenwei.
“More than you can imagine. They can benefit greatly from the Golden Roc Fort, alone,” answered King Kuari.
“The one who is summoned to the Khan will be the one who dominates,” Gu Shenwei thought. He suddenly realized that he had simplified the matter. He asked, “Do you mean that the winner of the bravery contest will be summoned to the Royal Court by the Khan?”
“It’s our tradition. No one can oppose it. Besides, if anyone questions your qualifications for the Tournament, then the Golden Roc Fort’s qualifications will also be questioned,” King Kuari said, winking his eyes at the Dragon King. He then continued, “According to the information I’ve gathered, the Golden Roc Fort will send its men to join the bravery contest. They will be your first competition. I believe that you can easily win the contest.”
King Kuari patted Gu Shenwei’s shoulder, then walked off to greet other guests.
Fang Wenshi was easily persuaded by King Kuari, and even Gu Shenwei almost lost his wariness towards him. However, his doubt was once again raised by King Kuari, so Gu Shenwei continued to be suspicious. He did not like the way King Kuari talked. “King Kuari seemingly treated me with sincerity, but he said nothing important. He did not mention who was hostile to me or who would support me,” Gu Shenwei mused.
King Kuari had begun to make decisions for the Dragon King, which caused Gu Shenwei great concern and distress.
Nothing could stop a banquet in Norland unless a disaster or accident took place. Everyone talked and drank with each other, regardless of their rank or status.
The Dragon King, who did not drink, did not blend in with them. Although he received attention for a second, he was soon forgotten. Compared with the three most important Lords, the rest of the nobles and lords paid less attention to the Dragon King. They stuck to an unspoken agreement: treat the Dragon King nicely, while keeping a safe distance from him.
Gu Shenwei did not leave, because he had not solved his conflict with King Rizhu. Although King Rizhu apologized to him, he knew that their conflict needed to be fixed.
As a result, King Rizhu got drunk before midnight, which was rare to see. He kept vomiting everywhere, so the other guests kept away from him.
King Rizhu was taken away by his attendants.
Gu Shenwei stayed for a little while longer, then bid farewell to King Kuari and left the banquet.
When he returned to his tent, Gu Shenwei saw King Rizhu somberly drinking alone.
“You’re brave,” King Rizhu said, as he continued to drink without raising his head.
“I’m flattered,” said Gu Shenwei.
“No, I mean it. You have guts. Even the Khan never tried to steal Flame Foal from me, but you did. On top of that, you even embarrassed me in public,” said King Rizhu.
“I said that I did not steal Flame Foal,” replied Gu Shenwei.
“Yeah, you did not steal it yourself. You have so many good kung fu masters at your command. Where is Old Man Mu? I haven’t met that bastard yet,” King Rizhu said.
Gu Shenwei did not answer him.
King Rizhu sighed and said, “I considered killing you, but then I would be scolded by the Khan.”
“I believe that you are able to kill me,” answered Gu Shenwei.
The Dragon King’s words sounded weak and cold, but they were tough, like him. King Rizhu looked up at the Dragon King with a fierce look, as if he wanted to kill the Dragon King. Then he calmed down and changed the subject. He said as he gnashed his teeth, “Gu Lun killed my son, putting me into an awkward situation, just as you did. I hate his guts.”
King Rizhu finally got straight to the point. Although he still looked angry, Gu Shenwei thought it was a good start to better communication.
“He was killed, and so was his family,” Gu Shenwei stated flatly.
“Yes, you’re right. Gu Lun and his entire family are dead. But I’m still unhappy because it wasn’t me who killed them. You have enemies, too. Are you willing to see your foes killed by others?” asked King Rizhu.
Before entering the Golden Roc Fort, Gu Shenwei had dreamed of killing his foes himself at every waking moment. However, at the time, he had no strength to kill them. After being strictly trained as a killer, he learned to control his hatred and change his thoughts. He believed that he did not have to kill his enemies himself, and a killer might lose his mind if he became obsessed with the idea for too long.
Gu Shenwei could not explain this clearly to a lord of Norland, so he nodded without saying a word.
“My plan was to lead my army to take the Western Region, seize Gu Lun and behead him in public. To carry out my plan, I encouraged the Khan to invade the Western Region early. However, the Golden Roc Fort took actions before I did. Those sons of bitches killed my enemy, and they even tried to get a reward for it from me. The Golden Roc Fort sent a messenger to bring Gu Lun’s head to me. What was I supposed to do? I reprimanded that messenger harshly, but I kept the head and used it as my chamber pot,” King Rizhu continued.
Fury suddenly overwhelmed Gu Shenwei. He could not help but to put his hand on his saber hilt. It had been a long time since he’d had such a strong impulse to kill someone.
King Rizhu continued coldly as he noticed the Dragon King’s move, “Your real family name is not Yang, but Gu. As the old saying goes, ‘When enemies meet, they glare at each other furiously.’ These words are true. What do you want, to avenge your family or to dominate the Western Region?”
To Gu Shenwei’s surprise, King Rizhu asked a similar question to what Fang Wenshi had proposed.
